Singaporebrides | Photography

Racing Towards You

Instant chemistry, online messaging and a series of dates later, our couple, Chan Wei Yen, 24, Medical Technologist and Oliver Lim, 30, Self-Employed were strolling down the path fate had rolled out for them hand in hand. Although they wanted things to be simple and fun for their wedding, Wei Yen and Oliver also wanted their big day to stand out. So they made a replica of themselves, invited minions to their wedding and fashioned their wedding video after a movie about racing cars. Read more about their story and be inspired to create a similar one of your own.

How did the two of you meet?

Wei Yen: Oliver was my driving instructor at Kovan’s Comfort Delgro Driving Centre and we had instant chemistry with each other right off the bat. We got to know each other better through online Messenger and he would take me out on dates to restaurants with good food and ambience. I guess you could say that the way through a woman’s heart is also through her stomach!

What was the proposal like?

Oliver: Being rather traditional, I wanted to propose before we applied for a flat, so I planned to do so during our 2011 Hong Kong trip. Before we left for our day tour, I left instructions for our room to be decorated with some flower petals and a bouquet. She was surprised to find the room beautifully decorated upon our return, but she did not suspect anything was amiss as she assumed the surprise was for our anniversary. While she took a shower, I quickly hid the ring box in her pillow and waited for her to discover it.

Wei Yen: To be honest, I couldn’t even feel the ring box in the pillow! I remember teasing him about the absence of a diamond ring when there was a bouquet and flower petals all over the room, but he kept insisting that the set-up was for our anniversary. It wasn’t until I got ready to go to bed that I found the ring box. He proposed in his sleepwear, which was hilarious, and of course, I said yes!

Minions, a standee of the bride and groom, and a canvas for your guests to sign on – sounds like you’ve had quite a happening wedding! Tell us more!

Oliver: We chose to get hitched at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel’s pillarless Grand Ballroom because we fell in love with its 6-metre high ceiling and unique glass wall that revealed a beautifully landscaped garden and gazebo. To keep the wedding simple and fun, we didn’t set a wedding theme but simply chose the colour ivory for our primary colour scheme.

I had my brothers dress up as Minions from the movie, Despicable Me, during our gate-crashing ceremony in T-shirts that I customised for them while Wei Yen customised a drawing of us as a wedding couple and made it into a standee so our guests could take photographs with it at the photobooth in our absence.

Wei Yen: Then, instead of the usual wedding guestbook, we had one of our pre-wedding photographs printed in canvas and invited our guests to write their well-wishes for us on it so we could display it in our home in the future. Our SingPost miniature ang-pow box was also customised to allow guests to contribute to either a “Baby” or “Honeymoon” fund. Needless to say, the “Baby” fund had more contributions.

On hindsight, the day turned out to be as perfect as I had dreamt it to be. Earlier in the day, I had butterflies in my stomach and felt really nervous about what may go wrong during the wedding. Thanks to the help of our sisters and brothers who took care of all the nitty-gritty details, the day panned out as planned and without a hitch, and I found myself relaxing and enjoying every moment of it!

You worked with Unique-Colours Creative Media to create a pretty special wedding video that employed an aerial shooting technique. Tell us more about the experience and why you decided to do a video like that.

Oliver: When we were searching for videographers on SingaporeBrides, we knew almost instantly that we had to engage Unique-Colours Creative Media for our wedding when we found out that they offered aerial filming services. It was something we have not seen before and as we had the idea of including a car-racing scene in our save-the-date and concept shoot, we felt that aerial filming would be perfect for our needs. As it turned out, aerial filming made the car-racing scene a replica of one from the movie Initial D.

Wei Yen: For our save-the-date video, Adrian from Unique-Colours Creative Media suggested using aerial filming to shoot us walking hand in hand at a park and lying down amidst lush greenery. The final edit made me tear as I could imagine us walking hand in hand through the same park as we grow old together in the future. Adrian and his team surpassed all our expectations and left us truly touched by their dedication and professionalism. No mosquito bite or blazing hot sun deterred them from producing a perfect video for us and their hard work has made our wedding experience even more memorable.

Were your family and friends impressed with your wedding?

Oliver: Everyone commented how beautifully decorated our venue was, the spectacular view of the garden and gazebo, how entertaining and professional our Emcee was and how delicious the food was!

Wei Yen: A friend of mine even remarked that our first march in was as grand as a minister’s arrival due to our song choice and our brothers and sisters’ line up along the aisle to welcome us in with party poppers.

Looking back, were there any moments during your wedding that were especially memorable or special to you?

Oliver: I was extremely nervous as we waited outside the ballroom during our first march in, but when we entered the room, I was elated and touched to see so many people turn up at our wedding that I cannot fully express in words the emotions and joy I felt as I walked past their smiling faces. Another moment that I’ll hold close to my heart for always was when she walked in together with her father during our ROM. I felt like the happiest man in the whole world in that moment.

Wei Yen: There were so many memorable moments that day and I am glad Unique-Colours Creative Media was there to capture them in still and motion. I’ll never forget the joy I felt when I saw all my relatives and friends, some of whom I haven’t seen for the longest time, during the cocktail hour. The photo montage we did for our parents was really special as it included their own wedding portrait. But I have to say that the most memorable moment of that day was when Oliver recited his vows to me.